Well New Yorkers?
 

There has been a lot said on this site lately concerning the recent situation. People are asking whether they should travel to New York or just wait until another time. I know that the events of September the 11th have affected every American citizen, but nobody more than the people of New York City. Besides the city being under attack, the city seems to be in fear of financial ruin. I remember a time when there was great fear of New York City going bankrupt, and I think that after the prosperity of the 90's< I'm sure that a lot of people think that it could never get to that point again. Still on the news we see Mayor Guiliani asking people to come to New York City, and it seems like every day now on Rosie O'Donnell, she has a cast of a Broadway show, saying that it is in fear of closing and asking people to come. So I would like to ask New Yorkers how they feel about it. Would you rather us stay away and give the city time to heal? Would you rather have our charity or our business? Is it insensitive of us to think of traveling to New York and trying to have a good time or do you find it insensitive for us to be placing our feelings ahead of what might be best to help New York get back up on its feet. By this message, I am just trying to get a sense of what New Yorkers are feeling and wanting and would ask that people not turn this into a political agenda as they seem to with so many other post on this site.

GINNY, <BR>COME AND HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!!

I think visitors should definitely come to NYC, now more than ever. There's still so much to see and do - take advantage of the smaller crowds!

Just booked my trip for November! Paying $95/night at the Marriott Marquis on Priceline.

Come, we would love to see you.

I really don't get a sense of tourist here unless I am at Rockefeller ctr or Ellis Island. That is pretty much how I have felt in my 15 years living here. A lot of people here you will blend right in. <BR> <BR>I could not stand the first week after the crash because everywhere you went people were sad. It is a bit better for those of us that did not loose people directly. My spirits came up when they lifted the flags. <BR> <BR>WHEN YOU COME BACK WE WILL MOVE ON EVEN MORE.

As a native New Yorker I can definately say that I am still reeling from the Trade Center attack. Two people I know died there (one a fireman)and with the funerals just over this past weekend the horror of it all has not yet abated. However, I have just purchased tickets for an off-Broadway show for two weeks from now and also decided to be a "tourist" and secured tickets for the Radio City Christmas Show and for Scrooge at the Garden. It's not so much as matter of moving on as it is enjoying and appreciating what I think is the world's greatest city! I suppose one truly doesn't appreciate what one has until it is almost taken away from you. Come on over to New York and see New Yorkers at their best! We have never been greater.

New York wants tourists. Well, how about lowering overinflated hotel prices, overinflated broadway ticket prices, restaurant prices...all the overinflated prices that make a trip to New York as expensive as living in that city which has the biggest gap between haves and have nots in the world.

Poster 5 - Maybe you haven't traveled much, but there are MANY cities that are very expensive! New York is unlike any city I know - there is so much to see and do I can't even begin the explain. If it was so expensive, and not worth the price, why are most hotels and broadway shows sold out each night???

As a card-carrying conservative it's my opinion that Poster 5 is forgetting one of the basic rules of capitalism--goods and services are priced according to what the market will support. Sure, New York's expensive--my wallet is still reeling from my recent visit. Am I complaining? NO!!! I knew it was going to be expensive and budgeted accordingly because I WANTED TO GO and it was worth every penny. I love New York and New Yorkers--not only that but I admire your spunk more than ever. You bet I'll be back.

It is to early do not come yet, we are still mourning! <BR> <BR>Doesn't it seem a bit silly for you and the rest of the tourist types to be milling around the stacky tourist sites of the city while people are going to funerals and mourning? <BR> <BR>I think us New Yorkers (outside of the greedy people who run hotels) would not like visitors to our city until at least the spring, there is a enough traffic now.

I think the mayor speaks for most of us in his repeated public appearances encouraging tourism to resume (including last night's Saturday Night Live, with firefighters).

Ginny, I really hope you come to NYC. Although the wounds from the Sept. 11th terrorist attack will never disappear, we can do our part helping the city to rebound by spending money there thus helping to mitigate the inevitable loss of jobs and by convincing ourselves that we will not be cowed by the terrorists.

Mr. Card-carrier conservative: the choice to pay inflated or not pay inflated prices is removed from the consumer when there is what amounts to a cartel or price-fixing by consensus. "What the market will bear" becomes "what we can get away with" when true alternatives have been eliminated. Add to that, the reality that a huge amount of the hotel and restaurant income you are talking about is paid for out of tax-deductible business accounts which disappear when business disappears. <BR> <BR>Industries that focus on only one segment of the consumer population -- most often on the high end -- routinely get into trouble with the rest of the economic structure begins to shift and the high end disappears. <BR> <BR>This applies to no industries more acutely than the travel and leisure industries -- watching the airlines, hotels, cruise lines crump should be a lesson in short-sightedness, overspecialization, over-inflation of prices, and over-expectations of profit margins. <BR> <BR>You can't demand 15% profit margins and confine your offerings to those who can afford to pay 8-15 times the daily minimum wage for one night's accommodations indefinitely, only in an unprecendented boom economy such as the one we saw in the 1990s. <BR> <BR>The truth is, before Sept. 11th, the bubble was beginning to shrink. The catastrophe of Sept. 11th put the whole process into another order of magnitude. <BR> <BR>Telling those of us who can't or won't pay the kinds of prices asked for a room in NYC (or Boston or San F. or. . .) to stay away shows you still haven't figured out how 80-85% of Americans really live. Where is it written that being a true American requires being in the top 15-20% and spending, spending, spending?

All that "card-carrying" rhetoric aside -- we who found NYC inhospitable, expensive and dangerous before have come to admire the revelation that New Yorkers can shed their self-absorbed shells and work together like a small-town community to help each other out. <BR> <BR>I would dearly love to visit THAT New York, but I would love it more if I thought I could find a place to stay where I felt welcomed and at home and not just a walking wallet.

That would be MRS. card carrying conservative, please :-). Sorry, my original statement still stands. My family isn't rich by any means but we saved our very hard-earned cash, looked and found hotel and show deals and went to New York last month purely as tourists--no corporate expense accounts in sight. No one forced us to take our vacation there--we chose to, knowing beforehand that we were visiting one of the most expensive cities in the nation and planning accordingly. Both my husband and I work hard and put years and years into improving our financial situation. We love to travel and have a great time showing our children this fabulous country of ours. It's not a matter of spending money wildly, either. We accumulate free irfare through our United Airlines Visa card and free hotel rooms by belonging to several hotel frequent guest clubs. It's just a matter of being a smart consumer. I know business travel is vital to the well-being of the travel industry but, believe me, the vast majority of travelers we saw on our trip were families--just like us. Your smug, 'ha-ha' attitude offends me--deep down you sound just a little too pleased that the evil capitalists are in a hole right now. Ever hear of the trickle-down theory? Try gloating around the hotel maid who lost her job this week or the New York taxi driver whose fares and tips support he and his family. I doubt they share your glee.

People want to jump all over NYC for high prices, well I travel fairly often and I can tell you that it is getting harder and harder to find really nice hotels in any major city or tourist area for under $200. There are a wide range of hotels, not to mention a lot of hotels in NYC. Although the low price hotels are probably higher than in the low price hotels in most cities there are some really fine budget hotels also. I love to visit NYC and I am by no means in the top 15%. I just go with the realization that it will cost me a little more.

Well Mr. Card-carrying consumer, my first question might be what are you doing on a travel site. After all if you have to be in the top 15-20% to travel to New York, then I quess you must have to be in the top 25% to travel anywhere. There are very few travel bargains left, even Vegas isn't the bargain it once was. So since you are on a travel site, should I take for granted that you are in the top 25% and just jealous of those in the top 15-20?

I was born in Manhattan and have lived here most of my life. There is no reason not to come to NYC and every reason to come now. Fall has traditionally been the liveliest of times in the city that never sleeps. The attacks on the WTC have marked us all, but they have not stopped us nor the the energy that makes NYC one of the great , if not the greatest city in the world. As to the cost, I have travelled all over the world and NYC is one the least expensive major cities to stay in. We <BR>need your company - it's part of what NYC is about, people from all over the world coming here to visit, to live, to buy, to sell -it's a unique place, enjoy it sooner rather than later.

Since the topic got away from the original post I would like to bring it back. I was fearful of coming into the city but I realizing that if the crowds arent there, the businesses will have to fold. <BR>I agree with the poster who said that its not just the rich business owners that are sufferring. There are thousands of people who used to live paycheck to paycheck who are now unemployed. <BR>I was scared to ride the PATH trains but I am going to be brave or at least act it and get some tickets for next weekend. I am ready to face my fears and dont want my favorite shows, stores or restaurants close. <BR> <BR>And to all the people who are so hell bent at pointing out the negatives of NY and the high prices of the city......Shut up. Please. There are planty of places all around the world that are more expensive and if you cant afford to go there dont. You dont need to be bitter to those people who can and do. I can't afford to go to Australia but I dont bash Syndey because of it.